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Materials science

Lead-free at last

Nature volume 432, pages 24–25 (2004)Cite this article

The most successful piezoelectric ceramics are based on lead zirconate and lead titanate. Environmental concerns over their lead content could disappear with the advent of a new ceramic that is lead-free.

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Figure 1: Hysteresis and shape change.
Figure 2: Phase diagram for the lead zirconate–titanate ceramic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Materials Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802, Pennsylvania, USA

    Eric Cross

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  1. Eric Cross
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Cross, E. Lead-free at last. Nature 432, 24–25 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03142

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